SUMMER/VACATION READING HANDBOOK 2006 ALABAMA, GEORGIA SOUTH CAROLINA VIRGINIA 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Planning & Promotion page 4 Chapter 2: Bibliography page 24 Chapter 3: Family Literacy page 34 Chapter 4: Programs page 44 Chapter 5: Scripts page 83 Chapter 6: Fingerplays, Songs, page 131 Chapter 7: Crafts page 157 2 Chapter 8: Activity Sheets page 181 3 . 4 5 Chapter 1 PLANNING AND PROMOTION 6 PLANNING AND PROMOTION TIPS ON RUNNING YOUR LIBRARY’S SUMMER/VACATION READING PROGRAM: Plan out the schedule for the entire summer as soon as possible. What days will programming be held? How many weeks will the library offer programs? Will programs be done at the same day and time every week? How many programs will the library offer each week? This helps parents remember when the program is being held. However, the library’s program schedule may not be convenient for all families. Consider having some evening and/or weekend programming for families where both parents work during the day. Be sure to schedule adequate staff and volunteers for each program. Make planning and promotion of the reading program as important as the summer’s activities. Think about when and how you will promote the reading program during the last few weeks of school. Determine the school districts and/or individual schools deadline date for parent newsletters. Are schools willing for you to make school visits to talk about summer reading at an assembly or in classroom? Do you have the time and staff to do this? Contact the local newspaper early and ask them to come to the library to cover one or two special events. Remind them the week of the program and again on the day of the event. Try to get an article printed early in the program to generate interest. Budget your money carefully. Can you partner with outside organizations for supplies, volunteer time, or program presenters? Budget your time carefully. Children’s librarians want summer reading programs to be fun and exciting. Games, visiting artists and performers all help make summer reading fun, but be realistic about what you, your staff, and any volunteers can do. Try to keep track of attendance and participation, Remember that statistics help tell the story. 7 Count attendance at each program. Try to determine the effect of programming on circulation. Compare circulation on programming days with other days of the week. Does summer reading for children have any effect on adult circulation? Keep record keeping as simple as possible. Decide how you will track reading—time spent reading/listening, number of books, etc. Try to line up volunteers early. You might want to check with a middle or high school to see if they have a community service requirement for students. Post a sign in the library and include information about volunteer opportunities in news releases. At the end of the summer schedule a meeting of all children’s services staff along with a representative from circulation and a branch. Evaluate the summer reading program and talk about what needs to be done to make it better or to run more smoothly. Ask what you want to change for the next year. Basics for Planning a Successful Summer Reading Program Programs for children promote use of the library. They encourage children to read, and we all know that many children who enjoy reading grow into adults who read and use libraries. Part of the value of good programs is that it models the use of print and non-print materials for parents, children, and other caregivers. Programming also should increase the visibility of the library in the community, which can lead to increased use of the library’s resources. Increased use and satisfied families generate support for your library. The fact that library programs are free makes them accessible to all economic groups within your community. Always mention that programs are free in your publicity. Think about ways to use summer reading to reach out to segments of the community who do not use the library. Try to reach out to the diverse groups in your area, and be sure to include multicultural materials and activities in programming. Be sure to plan some programs at times that accommodate a variety of parent’s work schedules and other obligations. Consider planning some evening and weekend activities. Contact other community groups and organizations that plan activities for children during the summer school vacation. Try to avoid major scheduling conflicts, and use the other groups to promote the summer reading program. This is especially important is small communities where there are a limited number of children. 8 If you are planning to use professional performers, storytellers, etc. book early so you have your choice of dates. Contact nearby library systems to see if you can work out a back-to-back booking. This often results in a reduced free for travel and lodging. Be sure that your planned activities will work in the available space in the library. It is always best to have programs in the library since children are then more likely to borrow materials. If you have to have a program offsite, always stress that the program is sponsored and paid for by the library, Friends of the Library, or community business, etc. Book your meeting room or other space early so it will be available for your needs. Design programming activities so that children with disabilities can participate. Areas should be physically accessible. Be flexible about age limits in order to make programs available to children for whom they are developmentally appropriate, without regard for age. Allow parents to accompany children but encourage them to sit in the back of the programming area so as not to block other children form seeing clearly. Have a simple form to use to evaluate every program. This will help in planning future programming. Planning should include a number of components to make summer reading successful. Here is a short checklist to consider when developing library programs for the reading program. What are your goals and target audiences for various programs? What is the program budget? This should be developed several months before summer reading begins so that there is time to raise any additional funds needed and to ensure that children’s services staff knows how much is available before booking any paid programmers. If additional funds are needed and your administrator approves, investigate other sources of funding such as local businesses and the Friends of the Library? If you do receive donations, be sure to acknowledge them in news releases and at the beginning of programs. You may also want to post a list of donors in the library and provide them with a sign to put in their business. Determine what materials and personnel will be needed for programming and other activities? 9 Plan how will you attract new children and families to the library through programming? Plan the methods and strategies you will use to promote the summer reading program. Decide on what program completion requirements will be for this coming summer. It may be a good thing to change them somewhat from one year to the next just to keep the reading program fresh. Decide how will you evaluate programs? Think about having a form at a couple of programs for elementary children to evaluate the activities. Another time have a form for parents or other adults. Ask children and parents for suggestions of other types of programs they would enjoy attending. How will you reach out to involve children with special needs? It is important to be inclusive in your program and to reach out and be sure parents are aware of this. Use your volunteers well. If you have teen volunteers let them lead an activity. A group of teen volunteers can do a puppet show, creative drama activity, teach a craft they love to do, etc. Volunteers Be sure that your library board and director know that you would like to have volunteers. They need to know because of potential liability, and may want to have a volunteer policy. Have a volunteer application form and a written job description with sample tasks. This will help you use your volunteers in activities or tasks that they enjoy and will help them be sure the library is where they want to volunteer. Have a short interview with potential volunteers to learn about what they like to do and why they want to help at the library, and what they like about working with children. Have a training and orientation session for teen volunteers. Be sure they are aware of some library philosophies such as patron confidentiality and intellectual freedom. Be clear about your expectations. Plan to have a way to recognize volunteers for their assistance. Give them meaningful tasks to do. Help with other program preparation including cutting thing out and setting up. 10 Help at programs with craft and other activities. A group of teens might enjoy planning a reader’s theater play, a puppet show, or a craft activity for a program. Help with summer reading—checking reading records, awarding prizes, etc. Reading to children or listening to primary children reading aloud Putting away paperbacks and magazines Help staff find books and other materials Write newsletter articles Make craft samples. Have a written schedule of hours and expect them to notify you if they can’t keep to their schedule. Training is important. Don’t assume they know how to shelve books. Be sure to make it clear when they need to turn over something to regular staff.